Days of Our Lives
by hawktakesflight
Summary: A series of more light-hearted oneshots involving Lucario, and the happenings at Smash Mansion. Seventh and last chapter, Rooftops and Memories. Who will save Lucario and the three Star Fox/Wolf pilots from their predicament? Thanks to all. Please R&R.
1. Pockets and Vegetables

**Good morning all,**

**Here is the first of some oneshots involving Lucario and possibly other tenants of the Smash Mansion as well.**

**I consider the Lucario in SSBB to be the Lucario, or based off the Lucario in **_**Lucario and the Mystery of Mew**_**, in which Lucario of the distant past is sealed within his master's staff for a thousand years - but that's another story. Suffice to say that after a thousand years, Lucario will probably be slightly out of touch with the modern world.**

**It's quite hard to write humorously for Lucario, but I'll try. It will probably be general, with a bit of humour, or perhaps I'll occasionally shift the focus to Mr Game and Watch.**

**Thank you for reading, all reviews are of course more than welcome.**

**hawk**

**---**

Pockets and Vegetables

It was another day in the Smash Mansion, as Smashers lolled about the Smash Lounge. Peach had dedicated her time in cooking something (toadstools?) and already the smell of something once-delicious, repugnant and slightly burnt at the same time was wafting through the Lounge. The Ice Climbers paled slightly and proceeded to produce vegetables from their parka sleeves, which they happily bit into while sitting at the edge of the Lounge with the younger Smashers.

Lucario sat on a stool in the corner, forepaws resting behind him on the large stool while his hindpaws dangled slightly above the ground. Observing the rest of the Smashers, Lucario assumed a slightly relaxed position, tilting his head at a tiny angle. His red eyes travelled over the room, passing over the Smashers at play or relaxation, until suddenly Mr Game and Watch appeared directly in front of him, and Lucario suddenly found his apparently blank face staring at his own blue-furred one.

_Oh, I – good morning to you,_ Lucario started backwards slightly, but then composed himself and bowed his head to the monochrome man. Mr Game and Watch beeped once, then produced a small, flat, black apple from thin air. Holding it in one hand, he offered it to Lucario. The surprised Aura Pokémon hesitated, then shook his head slightly, Aura Filters waving behind his head. _No thank you, you can have that._ Mr Game and Watch beeped once again, and continued on his way, flicking in and out of his walking frame animations.

Lucario paused for a moment and wondered what would happen if he had accepted it. He imagined that he could hold the 2D apple in his paws, but biting into it would be equivalent to biting into paper, and he would probably leave fang marks in it. Lucario amused himself for a while by picturing himself trying to pull the ensnared 2D apple from his fangs while Mr Game and Watch would look on and wonder what was happening.

_Still, Mr Game and Watch was right,_ Lucario wondered to himself. _I should get something to eat._ Lucario raised his snout slightly and closed his red eyes, trying to discern what kind of food was in the immediate vicinity.

He smelt the icy tang from the Ice Climbers' half-eaten eggplant. _Ah, perhaps not._  
He smelt the tin can and rations Snake was snacking on at the far end of the Lounge. _Perhaps I shall ask him about it some other time.  
_He smelt the odd mixture from Peach's cooking, two doors down in the Kitchen. _Ah -No._

Then, a slight, but distinctive smell crept his way into Lucario's sensory range. As sensitive as he was, the fragrance was very slight, but there. Lucario let out a small, but audible sigh, opening his large red eyes, scratching the top of his head with a black-furred paw.

_There it is._

---

Lucario jumped off the stool, landing lightly on his hindpaws. Padding softly across the Lounge, he exited it, his long snout taking in the strengthening scent. _Like a Houndoom following prey,_ he wryly noted to himself, he himself following the scent across the common corridor to the kitchen.

"Lucario!" The distinctive squeal of Peach broke in on Lucario's thoughts. Lucario stared back at her, tilting his head slightly. _Good morning, Princess Peach._ "Don't be so formal! Here, have something..." she busied herself in her kitchen, and eventually returned and produced an odd vegetable from her sleeve.

_How does everyone do that? _wondered Lucario. _Clothing must be a magical thing. Even Mr Game and Watch... Aaron-sama, my head hurts..._

"Here, take this! Dinner's in half an hour or so –" cooed Peach, ruffling the top of the shorter Lucario's head with her gloved hand, Lucario flattening his ears but otherwise not moving. _Thank you, Princess._

A squeal from an oddly shaped pot drew Peach's attention back to her cooking, leaving Lucario staring at the vegetable in his paws. Suddenly reminded of his objective, he continued, holding the vegetable in his left paw, making a mental note to examine the vegetable back in his room.

His questing quickly brought him to a large box, easily twice Lucario's height. Yes, the object definitely was within it, its scent now stronger than Peach's distinctive cooking. The question was therefore how to get to it. Offensive attacks were definitely out of the question, and he doubted Peach wanted it moved. A handle –

_Hmm._ Lucario slowly grasped the handle with his right paw, and pushed it inwards. Nothing happened. He tried pulling it outwards, and it opened with a little effort.

A gush of cold air rushed at Lucario, gently flattening his fur against him, and a startled Lucario nearly dropped the vegetable he held, ducking instinctively behind the open door of the box. His Aura senses hadn't prepared him for a box holding cold wind. Still, he wasn't going to be stopped. Lucario peered from behind the safety of the door, and was rewarded with the source of the smell.

Hesitating slightly, he stood in front of the box and the source, as if unsure whether to take it or not. The wind swirled about him, and Lucario appreciated his fur's warmth. Still, the object was there, just within reach...

"Either open or close the door, Lucario," Peach cried, suddenly appearing by Lucario's side. "What is it you want?" Lucario looked at Peach, then to the object, then back to Peach. _May I, Princess?_

"Sure. Here you go..." Peach took the chocolate bar, shut the fridge door, and then handed Lucario the bar. Lucario stared at the bar in his paws for a few seconds, then quickly bowed to Peach and hurriedly padded out of the room.

---

Back in the Lounge, Lucario was seated back at his stool, staring at the bar in his paws, the soft chocolate smell so alluring to Lucario. Memories rose in Lucario's mind, reminding him of the sweetness of chocolate, unlike the sweetness of the berries or fruits he usually ate.

_To your health, Aaron-sama – _he silently thought, raising the chocolate bar in his paw. Then he slowly bit into a corner of the bar, feeling the rough texture of the chocolate, its slight metallic taste, the crinkling sound it made between his fangs... _Wait, what?_

---

_Wait, what? _"Foil, Lucario. Foil. You have to take away the foil," explained Pokémon Trainer, peeling away the aluminium foil around Lucario's bar-with-a-bite-in-it. "There," he said triumphantly, handing the de-foiled bar back to Lucario. "Being away for a thousand years, I'm surprised you even knew about chocolate."

_Oh._ Lucario took the chocolate in his paws, turning it over and staring at it. Interesting. _Pokémon Trainer-san?_ The Trainer turned.

He bent it a little and it snapped into two, offering halfto the Pokémon Trainer. _Thanks, _he smiled slightly. _I may be from a thousand years ago, but I believe this is best shared?_

Pokémon Trainer smiled. "Yes... but you eat it all. I've got my own," he added, suddenly producing a small chocolate bar from thin air.

_How does everyone do it! _whined Lucario, holding his head in his paws, and sinking to the ground slowly. Pokémon Trainer appeared a little frightened by the sudden change in Lucario's behaviour, hesitantly and awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"All I did was to take it from my vest pocket..."


	2. Spikes and Nights

**Good morning all.**

**I apologize yet again for the delay – my computer has decided to abandon me for the time being, and as such I do have problems uploading my work. In any case, do enjoy this next chapter, **_**Spikes and Nights**_**.**

**Thanks goes out to all readers for reading. All reviews are definitely more than welcome.**

**hawk**

**---**

Spikes and Nights

Lucario awoke before dawn, quietly getting off his thin mattress, and then stretched the length of his body on all fours. Stifling a yawn, he blew on his paws, splashing some cold water onto his blue-furred face. Deciding to get on with his strict training regimen, Lucario immediately proceeded on, paws awash with the glimmer of Aura.

The sun – or whatever provided the light – splayed its rays across the land, painting Smash Mansion anew with a magnificent coat of bright. Lucario had finished his regimen, and decided to join the rest of the Smashers in the cafeteria for breakfast. Padding downstairs and realizing no one else was there, he selected a seat at the corner of the cafeteria and a tin of Oran berries. Jamming his paw-spike into the can lid, it acted as a crude but effective can opener, ripping off the lid in seconds.

Within minutes, Lucario heard footsteps approaching the cafeteria. Not wanting to use his Aura abilities, he decided to deduce the newcomer's identity. Popping a berry into his mouth, he closed his eyes, focusing on the footsteps.

It was more than one newcomer. Three, in fact. That many footsteps. One sluggish and heavy, one more lively and energetic, and one of a more average nature, but indicated a heavier owner. Lucario thought about this for a moment before he heard too the swish of tails and the ruffling of feathers, and heard the distinct voice of –

"Ah, Lucario's beaten you to the food," Falco quipped, as a slightly-sleepy Fox lumbered his way to the seat opposite Lucario, yawned, crossed his paws on the table, laid his muzzle down on it, and fell promptly asleep. Wolf sat down beside him with a grunt. Falco took the place next to Lucario, completing the square of the odd creatures.

_Good morning all,_ Lucario bowed his head, and the three pilots grunted, nodded or snored in reply. Fox's tail twitched slightly, and he mumbled something about crystals before descending back into sleep. Falco looked at Lucario, deep in thought, as Lucario proceeded to open another can of Oran berries with a paw-spike.

"You know, Lucario, I was wondering –" started Falco, placing a contemplative wingtip under his beak. "How do you sleep at night?" _Hm?_ Lucario looked up at him, tilting his head to a side, obviously puzzled by the question. _What do you mean?_

Falco spread a wing to include himself, Lucario, Wolf and a sleeping Fox. "We're all tailed creatures, you see. And there's a lot of problems with sleeping on your tail – mine takes forever to preen properly, and I would always be late for brawls -" "Plus, all this armour and gadgetry we can take off, but your spikes seem to pose a problem," Wolf interrupted. Fox mumbled something.

Lucario looked from Falco to Wolf in turn, and was suddenly conscious of himself, especially his paw- and chest-spikes. Indeed, their question did make sense – How _did_ he sleep, with all the spikes threatening to rip his thin mattress apart or to impale himself when sleeping?

Wolf, in the meantime, had resorted to carefully rolling berries down Fox's collar into the back of his shirt.

However, Lucario had picked up the art of delaying questions from Satoshi. Struggling to come up with a response, he slowly replied. _I don't really know… nor do I think about it much. _Falco still rested his chin on his wingtip, studying Lucario's spikes. _Berries?_ Lucario hastily grabbed the half-finished can of Oran berries with both paws, and proffered them to Falco, almost forcing the can up the surprised Falco's beak before he could speak again.

Falco stuttered a little, and then slowly pulled Lucario's paws and can away from his beak. "Uh, okay, one before our brawl then," he finally said, picking a berry, throwing it into the air with his wing. In trying to catch it, he leaned too far backwards, toppled loudly off the bench backwards, and caught the falling berry in his beak.

_Good catch?_ ventured Lucario hesitantly after a second of silence. Falco started to gurgle a little, and then made hacking sounds as he realized that he was choking on the berry.

As the other Smashers started to stream in, they were surprised by Fox suddenly yelping loudly in pain and surprise and shock, scrabbling at his back which was drenched with what looked like blood but also suspiciously like berry juice, with Wolf eating beside quietly him.

---

The rest of Lucario's day was taken up by brawls – firstly the free-for-all with the Star Fox crew, Lucario smiling slightly inwardly as he remembered Fox "accidentally" shooting Wolf off the stage, and then "apologized profusely" afterwards. Next was his 1v1 with the Pokémon Trainer, who he defeated easily. After which, he had stayed to watch the Ice Climbers' battle with Mr Game and Watch, following which he had an extended, drawn-out brawl with Ganondorf.

_Does not Ganondorf tire?_ Lucario had earlier asked Link. Link had just shrugged. Still, finally defeating Ganondorf marked yet another good day in brawls for Lucario, although he was dead tired.

Closing the door to his small room, Lucario was about to lie down on his worn-out mattress when Falco's question drifted back to him. _How do I sleep?_ Lucario asked himself aloud, his eyes half-closed by fatigue. His tail suddenly seemed a lot more sensitive, and responded with numbness and sharp pain when he rested his weight on it, and his forepaws and their paw-spikes somehow always seemed too close to his face. He couldn't even draw his forepaws around himself due to his chest-spikes.

_Well, that rules out sleeping face-down,_ pondered Lucario.

Half an hour passed in this manner, Lucario twisting and turning his limbs, trying to find something which would satisfy his forepaws, hindpaws, spikes, tail and sanity. The last party seemed increasingly irritable, and not for the first time in Smash Mansion, Lucario feared it may desert him completely. Finally, Lucario quickly stood up, whirling, his thin mattress thrown aside to the nearby wall.

_Aaron-sama, this is simply ridiculous…_ Lucario whimpered, holding his head between his paws, eyes closed both by frustration and tiredness, his snout pointing to the low ceiling above him. Lucario slowly slumped into a sitting position, tail flopping tiredly behind him, head resting on his knees, looking for all in the world as if he was in the middle of a sit-up.

---

Lucario suddenly awoke.

The reason was obvious – the sun – or whatever mysterious light source – had started to peek over the horizon, and had conveniently decided to focus a ray on a spot on Lucario's forearm. Startled out of his sleep, Lucario stumbled quickly to his feet, half-expecting his fur to crinkle or burst into flames. Fortunately, he observed, his fur was more fire-resistant, although there was a slight smell of smoke.

Lucario yawned, a long yawn, stretching his forepaws above his head, enjoying the first ray of morning sun, before commencing on his training regimen.

How did he sleep? At least he had an answer for Falco, although he wondered if Falco would accept "by closing my eyes" as an answer.


	3. Swords and Shields

**Good morning all.**

**This will be the last oneshot for now, I may pick up **_**Days of Our Lives**_** again as an when inspiration strikes. From now on, I will be starting on the newest Lucario fic, or perhaps the oneshot **_**Chosen**_** (tentative title) for D. Gray Man. Details are on my profile.**

**Apologies for the delay, my computer is still under repair. Also, being weighed down with some other commitments; I feel that the standard may have slipped a little here. Less Lucario-centric, but more general humour and writing.**

**I think, subconsciously, I have deviated away from writing humour for Lucario.**

**Also, I am open to requests for future **_**Days of Our Lives**_** chapters, please do PM or review with your suggestions, requests for Brawl characters/own-characters inclusions in future oneshots.**

**So once again, thank you all very much for reading, all reviews are definitely more than welcome. **

**hawk**

**---**

Swords and Shields

Lucario deftly slid in between Snake's legs, whipping around and striking Snake hard on the back, sending him skidding forward. Snake turned around and lobbed a grenade in Lucario's general direction, which Lucario easily sidestepped. However, in doing so, Lucario moved closer to Snake, intending to pummel him off the stage.

Snake, however, moved faster and launched Lucario skywards. Lucario twisted in mid-air, putting his weight on his hindpaw as he aimed to land a heavy attack on Snake. What he saw, instead, was the barrel of Snake's military-grade weapon and a small missile headed straight for him.

Lucario's red eyes widened.

The missile exploded on impact with Lucario's chest, striking the fur just below the chest-spike. At any other time, a normal being would probably have been blasted to gory bits, but the Smart Shield around Lucario activated and protected the Pokémon from grevious bodily harm, but still allowing a measure of pain and blasted Lucario skywards again.

_Ow,_ Lucario winced silently.

---

In the first hours of Brawl, Ganondorf was the first to charge into Master Hand's office, demanding an audience with the giant disembodied glove. After a "friendly" brawl with Toon Link had ended prematurely, Ganondorf was insistent in confronting Master Hand, running straight for the Hand's office, ignoring all else, including the sudden screech of the surprised Mr. Game and Watch, the wailing Ice Climbers whose ice tower he demolished and Peach's call for tea.

_Not two minutes ago, Toon Link had stabbed his sword deep into the Battlefield earth, while Ganondorf had successfully dodged and now prepared to deliver a powerful strike from behind, while Toon Link tried mightily to free his sword from the earth. By some remarkable stroke of bad luck, Ganondorf tripped over something, sending himself tumbling and ending up sitting upright, right behind Toon Link. _

_And, it just so happened that Toon Link's sword was suddenly wrenched free, a surprised Toon Link allowing it to fly straight out of his grasp, right into the air, and back down to earth… landing squarely in between Ganondorf's legs._

_No one spoke for a full second or two. Ganondorf moved uneasily, and realized that the sword had once again stabbed itself deep into Battlefield ground, not even touching a bit of him. Still, the sword wobbled slightly from its upright position in between the petrified Ganondorf's legs, not one inch away from somewhere no decent warrior should stab even his worst enemy._

_Toon Link drew a breath, and involuntarily took a step backwards._

Ganondorf, now in Master Hand's office, stood in front of Master Hand's table, both his arms gripping the edges of the desk, leaning his frame forward to face the giant glove. Master Hand looked back at him as only a glove would, silently flexing his giant fingers.

Raising one finger, the King of Evil started shakily, in a hoarse but determined whisper.

"From now on," Ganondorf growled, "if that puny imp is allowed to get his hands on anything – anything! – sharper than a very blunt orange… I quit!"

Master Hand considered this. He had received some complaints from the other problems about the King of Evil, and now seriously contemplated allowing Ganondorf's resignation from Brawl.

But Master Hand also considered the other similar complaints… King Dedede's hammer causing Bowser's concussion, Lucario accidentally breaking Olimar's helmet with a paw-spike, Marth unintentionally cutting off Zelda's tied-back hair… Bowser was currently in the infirmary, Lucario and Olimar had sought urgent helmet-repair attention, and Zelda had cut off Marth's hair in revenge while he slept.

Something had to be done.

---

_Crazy Hand and I would like to unveil these Smart Shields,_ Master Hand announced to the gathered Brawlers. The so-called shields were nothing more than a button, which could be firmly affixed to clothes, armour, fur, and whatnot, and could be taken off whenever one wanted.

_We have received complaints about… questions about physical harm,_ Master Hand continued. _Although Crazy Hand was originally against the idea, these Smart Shields now have to be worn during all brawls, friendly or competition._ Crazy Hand twitched, and then allowed his fingers to drop slightly, almost like a sigh of resignation. _Obviously, Crazy Hand wanted more physical contact._

_But these Smart Shields will automatically protect you from bodily harm, so no chopping off of hair, armour, or… _Ganondorf tensed, as Master Hand suddenly swiveled to stare in his direction._ …anything else. Pain will be reduced, but knockback and your own stamina will be unaffected, so training will still be an advantage._

---

Lucario rebounded from Snake's attack, striking him a glancing blow with an Aura-powered hindpaw, sending Snake off the Battlefield platform. At high percentages, Brawl's unique physics allowed his Aura-powered attacks to do greater damage. Although Lucario wondered why this strange rule was in place, he was grateful for the extra damage potential, but secretly questioned if there was some discrimination against him.

In any case, Lucario at that point in time had taken a considerable amount of damage, and thus his normally-powerful attack's power was amplified and managed to send Snake off the stage and out of bounds altogether.

---

_So it was you! _commented Lucario, genuinely surprised, his tail waving slowly from side to side. Snake nodded. Both Smashers were sitting down at a corner of the cafeteria, eating from tins of berries and military rations. "Pity that it's not much use, they have a unnaturally short natural lifespan anyway. Twenty seconds! Shorter than that berry," he commented, as Lucario bit into a particularly sweet berry.

_I'm surprised. Thank you._ Snake grunted. "What for?" _They thank you,_ Lucario moved his right paw, sweeping over to where Captain Olimar was walking out of the cafeteria, followed by a small chain of Pikmin. The last Pikmin turned and waved a tiny hand? paw? root? at Snake. A small Smart Shield, specially designed by Snake, bounced upon its body.

Snake, a small smile on his face, nodded.

On the bench nearby, asleep, Ganondorf grunted something about Toon Link and a sword, and shuddered involuntarily.


	4. Berries and Kids

**Hello all.**

**Here is a new oneshot for **_**Days of Our Lives**_**, this time exploring the interaction between Lucario and a particularly hungry puffball. On a separate note, the last chapter of **_**Remembrance**_** has been updated, thanks to Souldin's comments and lupyne's support.**

**Criticism on writing style and such are much welcomed. Thank you for reading!**

**And without any further ado, please enjoy.**

**hawk**

---

Berries and Kids

A sharp ray of light broke through the atmosphere of the Smash Mansion, casting shadows and light onto its exterior walls. The dawn found the blue-furred Aura Pokémon in the Mansion's Garden, unmoving, his black paws raised high above the tips of his ears.

Suddenly Lucario swiped his paw downwards, aflame with blue Aura emanating form it. In one swift motion he turned, following the blow with two kicks and one more strike from both paws. Dropping gracefully to the ground, he kicked in both directions, his hindpaws flaring too with blue fire as he executed a swift series of kicks and punches. After thirty seconds of non-stop movement, dodges and punches, Lucario came to a stop balancing on the tip of one hindpaw, his forepaws held in a defensive stance about him, and his eyes closed in narrow slits, a few blades of grass floating lazily in the air about him.

_Tch._ Lucario dropped his stance. Shielding his eyes with his paw, he stared upwards, silently admiring the breaking dawn. The sky was now considerably brighter than when he first started, being tinged with a light blue hue, and throughout the Mansion stirring sounds could be heard as some Smashers woke up and sleepily threw off their blankets, yawning.

His morning training completed, Lucario stretched his paws, then padded back towards the Mansion. Making his way to the Mansion's cafeteria, he closed the double doors leading to the Gardens behind him, before turning around and noticing the short Smasher staring up at him.

"Morning." Lucario nodded at Meta Knight, who now sheathed his shimmering sword Galaxia. The Star Warrior had obviously just finished a good round of pre-morning training too, Lucario thought, observing his Aura. Together the two Smashers made their way to the Mansion's canteen, where they sat opposite each other while eating. They didn't talk much, but enjoyed each others' company anyway. Lucario couldn't help but half-smile inwardly every time Meta Knight slipped a piece of food under his mask to eat, while he himself picked Oran berries from a slightly-battered tin can.

---

Lucario walked slowly out of the cafeteria, his paw still digging about in the small tin can for another berry. He got a few in his paw's grasp. Pulling them out, he was about to eat them when suddenly he felt eyes on his back. Turning his head around, he saw no one at first – until he noticed the pink puffball staring back up at him.

_Good morning, Kirby. _"Poyo," Kirby bobbed his head – his body – up and down a little. His response seemed muted, and at this Lucario's entire body turned. Facing Kirby, Lucario noticed that he had not yet taken his eyes off the Pokémon, but continued to face him with a sort of expectant attitude, his large eyes staring at Lucario's own. Lucario started to feel slightly awkward now, with the pink puffball's large but pleading eyes continually peering upwards at him.

Scratching the back of his head with a paw, Lucario wondered about the reason for Kirby's latest fixation with himself. Kirby was positively transfixed, looking up to Lucario like a baby Pokémon hoping for food – it was then Lucario noticed that Kirby's gaze was constantly shifting between his face and his free paw – but mostly resting on his free paw – the paw holding the mostly-empty tin of Oran berries – _Oh._

Lucario poured out the remaining berries onto his paw. True enough, Kirby's gaze shifted from the now-empty can in one paw to the bunch of berries in the other. _Didn't know Kirby liked Oran berries,_ Lucario mused to himself, dropping to a knee and holding the pawful of berries towards the little pink puffball.

_Do you want some? _At those magic words, Kirby's entire face lit up. The begging expression disappeared completely, and he opened his mouth in a wide smile. Lucario's own mouth formed a small half-smile. A small wind blew past him, causing him to reflexively turn his head to see who had opened the door behind him, letting in a blast of air.

The door was firmly closed. Lucario had hardly time to think further when the small breeze exploded into a violent gust of wind, and Lucario suddenly found himself falling forward.

He blinked once. The environment had changed entirely - literally in a blink of an eye. He didn't see the flooring of the corridors or the wall that was next to him. In fact, he didn't see anything at all. He quickly blinked again, but the inky murkiness and blackness still persisted.

Immediately he tried to move, and that was when Lucario made another startling discovery. The floor had turned slippery, and when he extended his paws to stabilise himself, they met rubbery walls which expanded outwards slightly under his touch. Above all, he couldn't stand up, remaining scrunched up in an uncomfortable position, his tail pressed close to his body and knees brought up to his chest.

_What in the – _was all Lucario could manage before the next few senses kicked in – the air felt warm – moist even – and there was a distinctive smell of – Lucario made a motion to move, but his hindpaw slid across something roughly spherical and soft, flattening it. _Oran berries?_

_This can't be good,_ Lucario thought, and sighed audibly.

---

After two seconds of frantic poking, one of Lucario's long forepaws shot through Kirby's mouth. It immediately felt around, feeling Kirby's soft face, before its partner found the mouth too and joined it. Fortunately for Kirby, Lucario took care to not let his paw-spikes come into contact with Kirby. Together they pressed on opposite sides of Kirby's mouth, quickly bringing the tip of Lucario's ears, then his entire head from between Kirby's lips.

_Kirby._ Kirby seemed surprised at the sound, and looked down to see Lucario's head protruding grotesquely from his own mouth. _Spit me out._ Lucario guessed that he had made the right decision – calling Kirby while he was still inside his mouth would probably get the little puffball panicked, believing that an invisible Lucario was addressing him.

Kirby obliged, Lucario tumbling out in an unceremonious slump on the floor in front of him. Glancing sideways at Kirby, he realised that Kirby acted as if nothing had happened – and was now waving at him with his trademark greeting "Hii~". Behind him was the large bulk of the penguin self-styled monarch, King Dedede, who had just come out of the cafeteria to witness the scene.

Picking up Kirby with both paws, he presented the penguin with a pink puffball, who now started to wave at him. King Dedede chuckled a little, before being stopped short by Lucario's glare. _How do you stop him from doing that?_

"Oh, that's simple. Just wave back to him, and he'll –" _No, not that..._ – Lucario's voice carried a little more resignation than normal – _I mean where he goes around trying to eat everything he sees! Does it not occur to him that eating something with _spikes_ might just be dangerous?_ King Dedede chuckled nervously as Lucario gingerly put Kirby's feet back on the ground.

"Ah, there's not much to be done about that," Dedede twirled his hammer a little. "He's just a kid, and needs his food – besides, he eats an insane amount of food anyway. Just don't feed the Kirby, or you'll wind up like that again." Lucario nodded slowly. _He ate the can... _Dedede laughed. "You won't believe the things he eats. Why, this one time he – " Lucario suddenly turned his head around and looked down.

Kirby was tugging on Lucario's tail. Lucario flicked it right out of his grasp, but Kirby still looked at it with curiosity, trying his best to get his short stubby arms on it. He flung himself at it, but the blue fur twisted just out of his grasp, and he blinked twice before hopping towards the interesting furry tail again. Lucario responded by flicking his tail each time Kirby got close, then ending the short game by brushing against Kirby's face with the tip of his tail. Kirby laughed, then fell over backwards, chuckling softly.

"See? He's just a kid," Dedede looked over at the pink puffball with a mixture of adoration and envy. "Oh well, just don't feed him again and that'll be fine..." _Thank you._ Lucario bowed, but Dedede clapped him on the back, laughing.

As the two older Smashers turned to head towards the Smash Lounge, Lucario felt another tug on his tail. Kirby held the tip of his tail in one hand, but wore a sad expression and pointed to his open mouth with his other hand.

_The kitchen's that way,_ Lucario pointed Kirby to the door right next to the puffball. Kirby's face brightened once again, and he bounded into the kitchen, the closing door hiding him from Lucario's and Dedede's sight.

"That kid, all he does is eat and sleep!" snorted Dedede, but his voice carried a vague hint of admiration. _Hm._ Lucario allowed himself a half-smile as they walked down the corridor.

---

The dawn once again found Lucario in the Garden, slashing repeatedly in the air with Aura-powered paws. On his final blow, he kicked powerfully with his hindpaws, drawing his hindpaws backwards, and ended that day's training balancing on the tip of one hindpaw.

"Hia!" A surprised Lucario glanced behind him, and saw Kirby desperately trying to replicate Lucario's actions, but only ended with him achieving momentary balance, toppling over, grunting and yawning.

_Maybe you should just stick to Meta Knight's trainings – he would teach you better,_ Lucario walked with Kirby back towards the double doors leading back to the Mansion, the short puffball happily waddling beside him. "Poyo."

Lucario opened the doors, allowing Kirby to enter first, before shutting it behind them. The two of them slowly walked down the common corridors, the yawning Kirby holding on to the tip of Lucario's tail as they rounded the corner and entered the cafeteria. _Breakfast?_

Lucario watched with a small smile as the pink puffball – energy miraculously present – sped towards the counters, settling in beside Meta Knight with a veritable mountain of food and waving to the masked warrior from across the small table.


	5. Biscuits and Chocolate

**Hello all.**

**Here is another oneshot for **_**Days of Our Lives**_**. I hope you will enjoy it, and thank you for reading. Many thanks to lupyne, Shadow Blues, NinjaSheik, Froggiecool and Souldin for their previous reviews, as well as all those who have read these oneshots. This particular oneshot and its title is a nod to Shadow Blues, as well as lupyne. _Remembrance_ can be seen if you look closely enough.**

**This chapter will not be so heavy on the laughs, however - humour will return in upcoming oneshots. ****Reviews and criticisms on the storyline, characters or so on are more than welcome. Thank you once again.**

**hawk**

---

Biscuits and Chocolate

The silvery surface glistened, reflecting the little light sent its way in a small sparkle. Then, it was moved about, set down again, and the surface suddenly mirrored a short, blunt, white spike suspended in the air above it. Without warning, the sharp spike flew towards the surface, shattering it and piercing through it in one hit.

Thwack.

Lucario moved his paw-spike smoothly over the circular top of the tin can, the spike tearing through the thin metal with ease. In a short while, Lucario had an open tin can, a serrated metal circle, and free access to the Oran berries within. Rolling one out, the Aura Pokémon savoured the slight sweetness of the berry as he allowed his eyes to travel around the cafeteria.

Noticing the younger Smashers moving towards his table, he was nevertheless rather surprised when they chose to sit around Lucario, their short legs dangling from the benches, not quite reaching the floor. Lucario was seen as a quieter, lonely character, much unlike the loud and cheerful kid Smashers, so his being surrounded by them was interesting, to say the least.

_Good evening._ Lucario looked around him, and dipped his head in greeting. After a unintelligible chorus of Hylian, Japanese and odd voices, the young Smashers sat down to their food.

Nana took her glance off her pile of eggplants to gaze at Lucario's can of berries. "Oh-ran berries..." she read slowly, the other Smashers paying attention. "Can I have one?", she asked brightly, peering into the can interestedly. She suddenly stopped cold, feeling his eyes staring straight into back of her head, and turned around slowly to face him. For a moment Nana thought that he might have been offended, and backed away slowly. Sensing this, Lucario's expression immediately softened, slightly startled, then picked up the tin and offered it to Nana. _Sure._

Nana accepted the can with a relieved sigh, tipping berries out onto the table. The round berries bounced and rolled about, prompting Popo and the nearby Smashers to grab some. Biting into it, they tasted the mild sweetness and slightly bitter aftertaste, some asking Lucario for more while others reverted quickly back to their normal food.

As Lucario got up to get another tin of berries for the interested Smashers, Popo called out to him, berry juice smeared slightly over his mouth. "Why don't you try some of ours?" This call was echoed by the other Smashers, calling for the Aura Pokémon to try out their local dishes.

Slightly overwhelmed, Lucario returned to the table with a new can of berries. Opening it, he passed it around, watching the Oran berries roll across the table once more. _No thank you. I usually only eat these berries._ The kid Smashers suddenly stopped their loud chatter and turned to stare at Lucario with a mixture of pity and shock.

"Never eaten anything else before?" Lucario shook his head slowly. _Rarely. Only –_ "But you must! Quick, come!" The Ice Climbers shouted in unision, jumping off the bench, and started tugging Lucario by his forepaws, willing him to follow. Shrugging imperceptibly, Lucario decided to follow the group of young Smashers, who were now starting to run out of the cafeteria's east entrance.

---

"A little more to the right!" "No, your right!" "Forward two steps..." "Augh, your paws are big..." "Your other right!" A slew of confusing directions resulted in Lucario wandering about, painfully stubbing his left hindpaw against a crate and having his tail get caught in a door as it closed. His eyes were closed, as per the younger Smashers' instructions – and was also disallowed from using his Aura vision.

All in all, the kid Smashers were trying to be secretive. _Although, with all the yelling and shouting, a half-deaf Bonsley on the other end of Sinnoh would have been alerted_, Lucario thought amusedly. After the elusive destination had been reached, Lucario finally opened his eyes, and what he saw – well – unexpected.

They were in a rather large room with no windows, and the only door closing painfully shut on Lucario's tail. After quickly releasing it, Lucario looked at the multitude of crates stacked to the ceiling. Some were already open, resting on the floor in the middle of the room. The kid Smashers swarmed over to the open box, peering within and started rummaging about. Walking up to them, Lucario saw the crate contained.

It was food.

A lot of food. Not only were the food in the Party Balls present – _So that's where they came from! _commented Lucario out loud – but also what the Smashers normally ate, items ranging from as far as sushi and sashimi to canned tuna, raw meat to mushrooms. And in a small corner of the crate, Lucario noticed a few familiar tins of Oran berries.

The Smashers were pulling out stuff now, but Squirtle turned to Lucario with a can of Pokéblock in his mouth. "Squirt?" _No, thanks,_ Lucario politely declined, not really favouring the modern synthetic Pokémon food. Squirtle shrugged - as much as Squirtle could - and started to enjoy the Pokéblock, Lucario's gaze returning to the crate, where the other Smashers were already literally diving into the piles of food it held within.

Ness turned around, noticing Lucario was simply standing there and staring at the crate of food. "What do you want? There's all sorts of things here..." The kid Smashers as one suddenly stopped their pillaging, and looked at the blue-furred Pokémon.

Lucario hesitated, then his features relaxed slightly, a half-smile tugging on the edge of his jaw. _Do you have... chocolate?_

The Smashers laughed, eventually finding Lucario a small and slightly-battered 8-bit bar of chocolate. He took it nervously in his paws, but after taking a bite – and remembering how to remove the foil – he decided that it was still good. Relishing the taste of chocolate once more, he realised how long it was since he had any.

"Try this!" The shy Lucas approached Lucario, holding a tube in his hands. Semi-fancy packaging read _OREO_ on its side, and the picture showed a couple of black-and-white circles. Splitting the packaging open, he offered a dark circle to Lucario, who accepted it. _Tastes like chocolate_, Lucario thought, struggling to clean bits of black biscuit from his fangs with his tongue.

Although Lucario did not eat anything else for the rest of the day, the party in the warehouse continued, Lucario amusedly watching the younger Smashers happily raid the Smash Mansion's kitchen warehouse, and nodding when they begged him not to tell Peach. Sitting on the top of an unopened crate, Lucario's large red eyes moved across the young Smashers hard at play, his tail flicking slowly from side to side, a small smile appearing on the corner of his lips.

---

The next day, Lucario was found in his usual corner of the Smash Mansion Cafeteria, quietly finishing his half-can of Oran berries. The kid Smashers milled around another table, loudly chattering and finishing up their dishes of food.

And although Lucario always ate the berries, once a month he would follow the younger Smashers to the elusive storehouse in the Mansion after a extensive blindfolded walk, and quietly enjoy a small bar of chocolate – and sometimes an Oreo – with the kids.

---

"Hello, Lucario." Popo held a tin of Oran berries in his mittens, with Nana holding a single berry. "We've ran out of Oran berries, and new stock isn't coming in any time soon." They half-hoped for the blue-furred Pokémon to stare at them, shocked and horrified.

"So here, we're planting a berry, so that we'll have a berry tree, and have more Oh-ran berries in the future..." The kid Smashers moved forward, quickly digging a small hole in the ground near the other Garden trees, carefully patting soil over the buried berry.

As the kid Smashers admired their work, a gentle breeze brushed past and around them, the refreshing aura encircling them as they stood in the Garden grove.


	6. Spring and Strolls

**Hello all.**

**First off, many thanks to Shadow Blues, lupyne, Souldin and NinjaSheik for their kind reviews, and to all those who have read as well...**

**Contrary to the title, this is not a romance or slash fic. However, the real world has been catching up recently, leaving me ever less time for writing. As such, I feel that this oneshot – being slightly out of my comfort zone and written under constraint – will have a lot to improve on, and as such I would like to seek your opinion and feedback on this.**

**[Edit: Lucario talks in Japanese to the Star Fox/Wolf characters, amongst others, so names mentioned are reverted to their Japanese transliterations, which will make more sense if you try to read it out loud. For example, "Faruko" is Falco.]**

**Thank you for reading once again, and as always, reviews or constructive criticisms are always welcome.**

**hawk**

---

Spring and Strolls

The bright morning sky shone down brightly on Smash Mansion, bathing it in a coat of soft light. The small but colourful blossoms in the Gardens swayed slightly in the breeze, then more so when the younger Smashers ran carefree through the fields, laughing and yelling. The older Smashers admired the brilliant spring scenery while some of the romantically-linked Smashers took each others' arms and strolled about peacefully, enjoying each others' presence.

Snake knew who was missing, and he knew where to find him. After climbing up to the roof of the Mansion, he spotted the silhouette sitting at the side of the roof, hindpaws dangling over the edge, surveying the morning sky alone.

"Rukario." The Aura Pokémon nodded at Snake. _Good morning._ "Come down from there, you're missing out a lot below," Snake dropped himself into a sitting position next to Lucario. "Give it a try, mix around a little. Even Prince Blue-hair is doing it," eying the dark blue spot on the ground which wandered outside from the Mansion doors.

They sat together quietly for a couple of seconds, before Lucario stretched himself, yawning, then snapping his jaws shut. _Why not?_ Lucario allowed himself a small smile, picking himself up. Snake joined him as they made their way downstairs together.

---

There was a dull _thub_, and Lucario's sensitive nose and ears immediately picked up the acrid smell of smoke and a small electronic whine. Halting his steps, a mangled piece of metal suddenly plummeted to the ground directly in front of him, a twisted scrap of useless parts now, a steady stream of smoke issuing from within.

Lucario took a step back and looked up, just in time to register a rather large shadow descending towards him. Reflexively, he caught the heavy load in both forepaws, before he realised that the mercenary Snake was now resting in his forepaws.

"Damn Cypher, got to get it repaired soon..." muttered Snake. He then looked at Lucario, who was staring back at Snake with a blank expression. "Put me down, or are you going to marry me?" Lucario indignantly released the soldier by allowing him to tumble out of his grasp.

That was a long time ago, but since then the two characters had struck up an unlikely friendship. It helped that Snake was slightly more open to the outside world than the Pokémon – Lucario slowly got used to, and started to interact with the outside world, and Snake, with Peach's help, had later introduced him to the wonders of the refrigerator (and the occasional chocolate bar within).

---

Wandering about aimlessly, Lucario eventually picked a large stone bench in the side of the Garden, watching the younger Smashers at play while his blue tail flicked occasionally from side to side. In a while, he heard a voice near to him, and turned to see Fox walking towards him, talking into his metal mouthpiece.

Noticing Lucario, the Star Fox pilot nodded in greeting, but then dropped his voice and cupped his paw about the mouthpiece, whispering softly into the microphone. Lucario sensed waves of general happiness, but also affection, longing and a slight tinge of embarrassment now, too, emnating from the fox. Concluding his conversation, Fox strode over to Lucario's side and plopped himself on the space next to him, kicking up his heels, and reclining back on the wide stone slab.

"Ahh." Fox sighed happily, letting his green eyes wander amongst the mysterious clouds above Smash Mansion. Lucario followed suit, tracing the horizon when suddenly out of the blue, Fox's voice drifted to Lucario's ears.

"Do you have a mate?" Lucario started slightly, surprised, and then turned to look at Fox. The vulpine was still reclined, practically lying down, but his head was turned such that he looked squarely at the Aura Pokémon. _What? _"Mate. Uh, close friend? Pokémon mate, don't they? Do they? I, uh..." Fox's voice started to falter slightly, stuttering.

_Ah... No. _A half-smile played on Lucario's lips as he shook his head slightly. _No. It's hard for one to find a mate in times of war..._ It was Fox's turn to looked startled, now. "War? Psh, that's no excuse... I'm in skirmishes all the time! Star Wolf is just one, there's still –"

_How about you? _Fox froze in mid-sentence, eyeing the Pokémon warily. Lucario now started to enjoy this, his half-smile still on his lips, swaying his tail gently from side to side. _Do you have a mate?_ Fox laughed, crossing his paws behind his head and closing his eyes. "No, not really."

_Ha._ Lucario's telepathic voice came out in a half-amused bark. _Really._ The waves of sudden embarrassment and amusement emanating from the pilot was more than enough proof, and Fox himself blushed, his ginger fur starting to acquire an odd tinge of red. Trying to cover up, the pilot started to hum some notes, but his voice cracked and faltered after a few seconds.

_There's nothing to be ashamed about! _chided Lucario gently. _Why, if your mate or potential mate is good, why are you not willing to share the news?_ Fox laughed, opening one green eye to look at Lucario. Suddenly, an idea occurred to Lucario, when the Pokémon – already starting to enjoy this little game – caught sight of Falco strolling past nearby.

_If you don't tell me, I shall ask Faruko-san... _Both of Fox's eyes snapped open, immediately alert. Lucario set his features to be expressionless, but betrayed a small half-smile at Fox's terrified expression.

_Fine, fine..._ Lucario lifted both his paws in a gesture of surrender. Fox chuckled nervously, then heartily. Both Smashers resumed their enjoyment of the each others' company and the refreshing spring scenery, the comforting sight of the flowers, the aroma of Kirby's cooking drifting in from the kitchen...

"Krystal." Lucario tilted his head slightly. Fox still had his paws behind his head, his eyes closed, the very picture of relaxation. A smile spread across the vulpine's lips. "Her name is Krystal."

Lucario nodded, the returned his attention to the tranquil morning sky. _That's a beautiful name._

---

The morning sky shone down with its soothing light, illuminating the Mansion in a light coat of gold. The air smelt fresher, thought the vulpine, spring once again was in the air. Fox smiled slightly, settling himself in the grass for a minute or so, silently contemplating the morning horizon, tracing the shapes of the clouds with his eyes.

"Chu?" Fox suddenly looked around, and noticed Pikachu scampering up towards him, nuzzling his jacket. In return, the fox ruffled Pikachu's head and scratched in between the electric mouse's ears. Together, they sat for a while more in the shadowy grove in the Garden grounds, leaning against the tree behind the old headstones, before they returned to the Smash Mansion to enjoy yet another day.


	7. Rooftops and Memories

**Hello all.**

**First off, just a note - again, Lucario speaks in Japanese to the Star Fox characters – hence, "Fokkusu" refers to "Fox". **

**On a different note, this will be the last Lucario-based fanfic for a while. I am now forcibly tearing myself away from writing Lucario fanfics for at least a while, as I find my ideas for **_**Days of Our Lives**_** are starting to dry up.**

**I will be now moving my writing energies to **_**Chosen**_**, a D Gray Man fanfic. However, as the real world is starting to catch up with me, I fear that updates may not be as frequent as they used to be, but, still. I hope that once I return to writing fics for Lucario after **_**Chosen**_**, the ideas will flow once again.**

**Of course, any suggestions on what to write, or requests, are definitely welcome and I will consider them.**

**It is therefore with a reluctant heart but great hope for the future that **_**Days of Our Lives**_** comes to a conclusion. I thank all readers and reviewers for their support, especially lupyne, Shadow Blues, Souldin, NinjaSheik and Froggiecool, who have really helped me throughout the course of this collection. Thank you all.**

**[Edit: Appended to the end of this chapter is a list of other fics in this series, which will be updated as time goes by. If you liked this collection, please feel free to check out the related fics if you so want to. The links to the fics can be found on my profile. Thanks once again!]**

**And, without further ado, please enjoy.**

**hawk**

---

Rooftops and Memories

Fox suddenly sat up, yawning. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the fox dragged himself out of bed, scratching his back. In half an hour, he was sluggishly moving down the corridor, aiming for the cafeteria but instead lumbering into the wall. Not bothering to move, he slumped against the wall in a standing position, his muzzle and forehead pressed against it, and fell fast asleep.

---

The blue Aura Pokémon padded down the hallway, fully awake and refreshed from his morning self-training session. After a particularly rigorous session, he now made his way to the cafeteria for his morning meal, passing by the automated board which recorded the brawls for the upcoming day.

Having never encountered such technology before, Lucario was suitably surprised and hesitant at first, but had apparently recovered from the surprise in the following days. Now, Lucario entered in a request for a friendly brawl later that day into the board with his forepaw, and then continued on his way to the cafeteria.

Rounding the corner, he immediately spotted the snoozing vulpine, who was now slouching uncomfortably, chest-first, against the wall next to the cafeteria entrance. _Fokkusu-san?_ Lucario stood next to the sleeping pilot, who was peacefully in deep sleep despite his unorthodox sleeping position. No response. Lucario decided to try again. _Fokkusu-san?_ The vulping shifted slightly, then mumbled something, smiled, then sunk back into sleep. Lucario sighed.

_FOKKUSU-SAN!_ Lucario's telepathic voice rung loudly in Fox's mind, but the vulpine's only response was to weakly wave a paw at Lucario, still asleep. Finally running out of options, Lucario forcibly hoisted the pilot and slung him over his shoulder, then carried him into the cafeteria.

"No, go away... Five more minutes... The Academy isn't open today..." the semi-conscious Fox mumbled gibberish into Lucario's ear. As Lucario was the first one in the cafeteria, he didn't need to put up with any of the other Smashers gawking at them and wondering why the Star Fox pilot was slung across his shoulder like a bag of berries.

_Help, Aaron-sama – I have an sleeping fox on my shoulder._ Lucario mentally slapped himself for interfering in Fox's business – what business was it of his if Fox had decided to sleep standing up, leaning against the wall near the cafeteria? Speaking of which, said wall now had a slight line of drool near where Fox's muzzle had been.

Arranging Fox lying down on the nearest bench, Lucario stepped back. Fox immediately curled up, an instinct, and resumed his sleep. Lucario hesitated between the choices of letting Fox sleep, or rudely awakening him with a glass of water to the head. Still deliberating, Lucario took a can of Oran berries from the counter, and sat himself next to Fox, keeping a watchful eye on the softly snoring pilot.

Halfway through Lucario's second berry, he noticed some movement in the fox. Fox's paw dreamily moved to his twitching ear, scratching it softly, then vigorously. Nothing else seemed to happen as Fox gave a sigh and sank back into sleep once again.

---

Falco Lombardi made his way into the cafeteria, irritably raking the back of his head with his wingtips. The first sight he saw was the blue-furred Pokémon sitting at a bench near the door. This was odd in itself, because Lucario normally chose to sit in a secluded corner of the cafeteria... and on closer inspection, what was that next to him? It looked as if Lucario was suddenly interested in lugging a –

"Hey!" Falco started forwards, catching sight of the sleeping fox on the bench next to Lucario. "What did you do to him?" Lucario didn't appear agitated by Falco's sudden actions, but more morose and resigned, and that stopped the falcon in his tracks.

_He was sleeping standing outside the cafeteria. I have no idea why,_ Lucario added. _So I put him on the bench to sleep._ Falco nodded slowly, his beak agape. Attempting to scratch his torso, through his pilot's jacket, with his wingtip wasn't proving very effective, and essentially diverted most of Falco's blood away from his brain to his scratching wing. Plus, it was in the morning.

Fox seemed to be affected by this, too, and resumed scratching his muzzle. Falco sat down next to Fox, placing the half-asleep vulpine between him and Lucario. "Agh – itchy feathers –" grumbled the bird, furiously smoothening and ruffling his feathers beyond the level of normal preening. Lucario started to look a little concerned. _Are you well?_ "Yeah, I suppose. Just –"

"THERE you are, you lousy fleabag!" The newcomer's voice jolted Fox off the bench and onto the floor, effectively breaking him out of his extended slumber. Lucario and Falco instinctively jerked their heads towards the source of the yell, which came from the east entrance of the cafeteria and the imposing figure of Wolf O'Donnell.

Fox picked himself up and stood groggily to his feet. "Hey now," he spoke. "I didn't insult you first, did I?" Wolf strode towards the group, stopping before Fox and drawing himself up to his full height. Suddenly, he swiped Fox's face with an outstretched paw, a single claw glistening in the light. He didn't harm Fox, although the claw passed through the outermost layer of Fox's fur, and was brought down with a slam on the table.

"Lousy." Lucario, Fox and Falco peered at the dead louse at the end of Wolf's claw, half-impaled and half-squished. "And as for 'fleabag', I don't think I need to say more." Wolf suddenly dropped all composure and frantically started raking his fur with his claws.

Three pairs of eyes widened.

Fox and Falco abandoned all pretence of civility, scratching, gnawing and biting at their own fur and feathers in an attempt to remove the fleas. "You did it!" Falco yelled over their panic. "You and your three-way brawl last night!" "Arrogant bird!" Fox retorted back. "How did we know it wasn't you instead!"

Lucario, meanwhile, his blue tail flicking from side to side, stood some distance away with a mild sense of horror and surprise, not really knowing what to do.

Click! Bzzzz – zzz – zzz – psh. Lucario suddenly whipped around to see Snake armed with an odd-looking metal device and another odd-looking metal cylinder. _Wha – _Before Lucario could say anything else, Snake aimed the cylinder at the nearest pilot and covered Falco with a stream of froth that exploded from the canister, then quickly activated his razor and bzzzzzed it over the writhing pile of foam. The foam disintegrated after a couple of seconds, revealing a flealess Falco with a bad haircut.

"What did you do that for, you –" Snake waved a finger at the outraged bird. "Temper, temper. Taking out the main flea nest on your head, and this is what I get?" Snake sighed, leaving Falco to slowly realise that he wasn't consumed with the urge to scratch every feather he owned, and perhaps more importantly, that half the feathers that were once on his head were now scattered on the floor.

Two more quick bursts of Flea-B-Gone and two bzzzzzzzzs later, a wolf, a falcon and a fox with similar bad haircuts or random missing patches of fur were simultaneously glaring and reluctantly thanking the stealth soldier. All about them were rapidly disappearing patches of foam, shredded feathers and loose lumps of fur, and the millions of dots of flea bodies which littered the floor like a war-torn zone.

---

"Right." The five Smashers stared at the radius of destruction in the once-homely cafeteria, where overturned benches, tables and piles of foam reigned supreme. "At least the fleas are gone," conceded Falco, still trying to preen his head feathers.

Snake, however, was still unsatisfied. There was something missing... "Ah, Rukario." Snake turned to face the Aura Pokémon. "You carried the great flea-ridden pilot in, didn't you?" Lucario slowly nodded, realising where the conversation was going. As if on cue, Lucario's paw moved instinctively to scratch an annoying itch on his shoulder.

Quick as a flash, the mercenary pulled out the spray-can and the razor again, but both were suddenly knocked from his hands by an Aura-powered hindpaw and sent spinning across the floor. Unperturbed, Snake pulled another can out of his myriad pockets, and faced Lucario, who now had crouched into a defensive stance.

_Don't – you – dare, _Lucario growled, baring his fangs.

---

Lucario needn't have worried – thanks to the odd physics of the Smash Mansion, fur grew back at an extraordinary rate. Fox and Wolf looked normal again by midday the next day, whereas Falco sported his normal plumage of feathers before lunchtime.

Still, the rest of the Smashers filing in for their breakfast were greeted with the unorthodox sight of Snake wrestling Lucario in a puddle of foam, effectively and thoroughly defleaing the both of them – without the need for Snake's macabre haircut, too.

---

_The next day, at dusk, Snake went to find Lucario, wanting to arrange a brawl with the Aura Pokémon. Peering at the automatic board earlier on, Snake had glanced through the list of brawls taking place. Shadow Moses Island, Spear Pillar, Pokémon Stadiums, Battlefield – all occupied! Ah, Final Destination was unbooked. And thus Snake was now pacing quickly through the hallways of the Mansion, looking for Lucario before another set of Brawlers chose Final Destination for their own brawl._

_Not in his room, not in the cafeteria, not in the Gardens... Snake's mind suddenly clicked. There was only one other place Lucario would likely be – the only place Lucario would probably go where no one else would. Snake glanced through the window. The sun – or whatever provided the light – was setting, shooting rays which encompassed the Mansion in a magnificent glow. Out in the rapidly encroaching night, Battlefield and Final Destination winked at him, mere pinpricks of light at a great distance away from the Mansion._

_Snake climbed the final flight of steps to the rooftop, confident that there was where Lucario was. "That Pokémon has some good ideas... Peace and quiet on the roof," he mused._

_With all the joker-type characters running loose in the Mansion, Snake had often wondered how the serious and silent Lucario had managed to keep his cool – or even his sanity. Escaping to the roof probably provided the Smasher with some form of escape from the craziness of the Mansion, perhaps to reflect on his past life? Snake didn't really know much about Lucario's past, but heard he was a devoted royal subject – which probably accounted for his polite and silent demeanour. That Lucario had only recently sent a wooden staff – the only possession he had in the Mansion – back to his homeworld probably meant that he was more confident of life in the Mansion._

_Lucario had really made an impact, not just in brawls, but in the days of the lives of the Smashers. And in turn, the Smashers had helped Lucario to open up, if only just a little._

_Above the roof, a shimmering star blinked as if it were snickering. A couple of floors below them, "Fox v Falco, Battlefield" glowed bright on the automated board's interface._

_---_

Days of Our Lives Arc

_Introduction  
Claustrophobia  
Checkmate_  
**Days of Our Lives**  
_Remembrance  
Reflection_


End file.
